Julie Bouchet-Horwitz ’03

Alumni Success Story

Julie Bouchet-Horwitz ’03

Nursing Alum, on Third Career, Inspires Future Fellow Professionals

The calling to the nursing profession came later in life to Julie Bouchet-Horwitz ’03, after careers as an airline crew manager and theater actress. She has drawn upon her life experience to excel as a nurse practitioner and board-certified lactation consultant with her own private practice, specializing in breastfeeding.

Eleven years after graduating from RCC with an AS in Nursing, Bouchet-Horwitz returned to campus in May 2014 as guest speaker for the Nursing Pinning ceremony. “For me nursing was a third career,” she told the assembled nursing graduates. “I entered RCC when I was 50 years old … Don’t let your age stop you from continuing your education.”

After earning a bachelor’s degree in psychology from West Virginia University in 1971, Bouchet-Horwitz worked for six years at Eastern Airlines, then returned to a longtime passion, acting – singing and dancing in NYC theaters for seven years. After getting married and starting a family, she became interested in the natural childbirth movement and breastfeeding, and after five years of training passed the certification exam to become a lactation consultant.

Bouchet-Horwitz received her associate’s degree from RCC and a master’s in Columbia University’s family nurse practitioner program. She served as a registered nurse and lactation consultant at Nyack Hospital for three years while attending Columbia. She is now a clinical instructor at Columbia, training future nurse practitioners in the field and mentoring aspiring lactation consultants outside the field. Since 2015 she has been executive director of the New York Milk Bank in Ardsley, NY. She maintains her private practice in Irvington, NY, where she lives with her husband, Bill. They have two adult daughters.